Madeline's Rescue (special)
'''Madeline's Rescue '''is a 1991 Canadian-American animated television special produced by CINAR and France Animation. It premiered on June 6, 1991. While it was the fifth special produced, it was based on the second book, Madeline's Rescue. It closely mirrors the story with minor adaptation changes. Plot As morning dawns in Paris the Girls prepare for their walk. As always they leave the boarding school at 9:30 AM in two straight lines. As they reach a footbridge over the River Seine, Madeline sees a black cat on the rampart. She chases it up onto the rampart, pretending she is exploring a wild jungle. Ms. Clavel is terrified and rushes to pull her back down to the footpath. Madeline believes she is okay, as she has danced on the rampart many times. This time however, she loses her footing and tumbles into the Seine. Everyone panics as Madeline does not yet know how to swim. She struggles to stay afloat in the fast-moving current. By now dozens of people up and down the banks of the Seine have seen the incident. Two police officers rush by with poles and extend them into the water, but they are not long enough to reach her. A barge captain tosses her a life preserver, but Madeline misses it. She starts floating out of reach and everyone assumes the worst. Suddenly, out of sight, a passing stray dog sees the commotion and runs to the bank. She sees Madeline on the verge of drowning and jumps right into the river. Madeline goes under and the dog dives to grab her by her collar. All the spectators are amazed and begin cheering as she pulls Madeline back to the surface and swims over to the bank. Ms. Clavel and the Girls rush down to the bank to reunite with Madeline, followed quickly by Dr. Cohn who has been called to the scene. After a brief examination Dr. Cohn determines Madeline is okay. But she's exhausted, cold and still uneasy from the experience. Ms. Clavel, relieved that Madeline is safe, picks her up to take her back to the house. But Madeline jumps down and runs back to thank the dog for saving her life. The two embrace as Ms. Clavel says the dog must belong to someone else. The dog gives her a playful lick and Madeline realizes she doesn't have a collar. She and the Girls beg Ms. Clavel to let them take the dog back to the house. Ms. Clavel seeing the Girls already love the dog, agrees so long as they look for her owner. The dog is quite happy about all this. At the house Ms. Clavel tends to Madeline and lectures her about following her instructions. The Girls give the dog a ribbon and a bone for her bravery. Madeline takes the dog on a tour of the old house. When she jumps on the table, Ms. Clavel tells her that Lord Cucuface doesn't allow students putting their feet up on the furniture. The dog 'asks' (with Madeline translating) who Cucuface is. Ms. Clavel explains to the dog that Lord Cucuface is the President of the Board of Trustees who finance and govern the school. His word is considered law, but the dog doesn't seem to care. That night after everyone goes to bed, the Girls begin to disagree over where the dog should sleep. They begin a pillow fight to decide and the dog disappears. Madeline finds her already asleep under her bed and they settle on her letting her sleep there that night. A few days later the Girls have all divided-up roles for maintaining the dog and realize she has no name. Madeline asks her what she wants to be called. She runs off and comes back carrying a spelling book opened to a G. Nicole guesses her name is Giselle, much to the dog's embarrassment. Madeline takes a guess, arriving at Genevieve. The dog reacts very positively to this, confirming her guess. Genevieve emerges as a very positive influence in the school. She's quite smart, knowing arithmetic and geography. She's very well behaved. She can sing too. She's also a joy to go on walks with. She quickly grows on the school as it becomes evident she was previously a stray. Some time later May 1st rolls around. The Girls and Ms. Clavel always get quite nervous at this time because the Board of Trustees (led by Lord Cucuface) visits the school to make sure everything is proper. Their standards are incredibly high. They examine the classroom, the dining hall and the bedroom. Aside from some dust here and there, everything seems fine. However, Lord Cucuface hears Genevieve under a bed and quickly finds her. He's quite annoyed as there's a very blatant rule that dogs aren't allowed in the school. He orders Ms. Clavel to boot Genevieve immidiately. Ms. Clavel asks him not to expel Genevieve, saying how much the Girls love her and that she has no home otherwise. The other trustees seem sympathetic to this request, but Cucuface is adamant to uphold the rules. He also disparages Genevieve for being a mixed breed dog, saying it's improper for the young girls to adopt such a dog. He drags Genevieve out of the house himself. He orders his driver to take Genevieve out to the countryside, assuming she won't be able to find her way back. As the limo pulls away the Girls sob. The driver drops off Genevieve far away, outside of Paris in the pouring rain. Back at the school the trustees have left and the Girls are heartbroken to have been separated from Genevieve. As the rain dies down, Ms. Clavel reassures them and suggests they go out looking for Genevieve. Madeline declares she'll never stop looking until she's found her. The Girls search everywhere, asking everyone they come across if they've seen Genevieve. As the search drags on, the Girls become increasingly despondent. Their last option is visiting the pound, but Genevieve is lost. After hours of walking, the Girls are exhausted. Ms. Clavel calls a cab to take the Girls back to the school. They make the driver cry when they tell him about Genevieve. At the house the Girls break down and cry during dinner. They eventually go to bed. In the darkness, Madeline is the only one who can't sleep. She weeps in silence, devastated to lose Genevieve. She goes to the window and calls her to return, although now losing hope herself. In the night, Ms. Clavel is awakened by something. She rushes downstairs. Outside she sees some bushes rustle and asks who's out there. It's Genevieve! She walked all the way home. She dances happily around Ms. Clavel and then runs up to see the Girls. The Girls are absolutely elated to be reunited with Genevieve. They cook her a meal of biscuits and beef before going back to bed. When Ms. Clavel leaves, the Girls have another pillow fight as to where Genevieve will sleep. This one is more vindictive and it wakes up Ms. Clavel. She comes back to the room and gets hit in the face with a stray pillow. She warns the Girls sternly that should they fight again over Genevieve she will need to be given away. Not wanting to risk losing her again, the Girls calm down. Ms. Clavel takes Genevieve to sleep in her room. For the third time that night Ms. Clavel wakes up sensing something is wrong. Genevieve has disappeared from her room. Madeline then barges in and tells Ms. Clavel there's something to see. She leads her down to the kitchen and pulls back a curtain to the closet. To everyone's surprise and delight, Genevieve has given birth to a litter of puppies. There's a puppy for every girl. Genevieve beams proudly. A few weeks later Lord Cucuface comes by for a surprise inspection. He immidiately smells dog and knows Ms. Clavel has brought back Genevieve. He finds her in the kitchen and demands they shoo. However, one of Genevieve's pups crawls into his hat. This proves too adorable even for the stuck-up Cucuface. Madeline translates for Genevieve who says he can take the pup as his own pet. He agrees to allow Genevieve to remain at the school and he leaves. The Girls hug Genevieve, happy that she has come into their lives for the foreseeable future. Trivia * Although rarely appearing in the subsequent books, Genevieve becomes a major character in the Madeline tv series. * Genevieve's twelve puppies aren't seen after this. * The "Have You Seen Our Dog?" sequence is considered to be one of the saddest moments in Madeline history.